Certain beverage preparation machines use capsules containing ingredients to be extracted or to be dissolved; for other machines, the ingredients are stored and dosed automatically in the machine or else are added at the time of preparation of the drink.
Most coffee machines possess filling means that include a pump for liquid, usually water, which pumps the liquid from a source of water that is cold or indeed heated through heating means, such as a heating resistor, a thermoblock or the like.
Such machine typically have a brewing unit for holding and extraction the beverage ingredient. To introduce the ingredient into the brewing unit and then remove the ingredient upon use, the brewing unit has a closure mechanism that may be motorized or driven by a handle that is operable by a user. EP 1 208 782, EP 1 686 879, EP 1 731 065, EP 1 829 469, EP 1 864 598, EP 1 865 815, EP 1 867 260, EP 1 878 368, EP 2 222 210, EP 2 222 211, EP 2 222 212, EP 2 227 121, EP 2 227 122, US 2008/0006159, U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,488 and WO 2007/111884 disclose such machines.
Moveable coffee machine are already known. EP 1 878 368 discloses a beverage machine having a functional block that is rotatably mounted on a support base. The functional block can be designed to be removable from the support base. EP 1 864 598 discloses an autonomous beverage machine that can be mounted onto a docking station. The beverage machine is arranged to be operable whether connected to the docking station or disconnected therefrom.
These machines are usually arranged to be placed at some convenient location on a support surface in a kitchen or bar or in an office or in another suitable environment, typically close to the mains and to a source of water, in particular close to the kitchen sink, and are not easily movable. This is inconvenient when the machine or the supporting surface needs to be cleaned or the machine otherwise moved, e.g. to a different room. When this happens, the user tends to seize the machine wherever he manages to find some gripping means, e.g. at the outlet nozzle, at the drip tray, by the machine's opening for the drip tray or waste ingredient container, under the machine's bottom . . . in an unreliable manner which may lead to dropping the machine, damaging parts of the machine exposed to excessive mechanical stress due to seizure of the machine at improper locations, to the falling out/off of some movable parts of the machine, such as the already mentioned drip tray, waste ingredient collector or even the water reservoir.
To solve these problems, EP 2 222 210 discloses a slim beverage machine having a housing that may be seized single-handed and WO 2010/015427 discloses a beverage machine with a carrying handle.